Illinois attorney general candidate Sharon Fairley is outlining steps she would take to root corruption as the state’s top attorney.
Fairley says if elected she’d create a hotline for reporting corruption - and push legislation to strengthen the state’s legislative and executive watchdogs - among other proposals.
FAIRLEY: "I don’t think there’s enough energy, focus or attention right now in the office. And there’s a lot of work to be done."
In announcing her plan Thursday, Fairley namechecked University of Illinois at Chicago Political Science Professor Dick Simpson. His research shows two thousand public officials have been locked up in Illinois since 1971.
Simpson gives Fairley’s plan high marks. But he says she’ll have a tough time getting better oversight of legislators.
Because that would require a new law - and he says state lawmakers don’t want better oversight.
Fairley is one of eight Democrats running for Attorney General in the March primary.